Lady Lynx rise to top at Augie Twilight meet
The Lady Lynx were the clear winners at Friday’s Augustana Twilight Invitational, as the Brandon Valley girls out-performed 21 other teams to claim the team prize. The Lynx boys placed 13th in the 23-team event.
BV was led by senior Haylee Waterfall, who posted a time of 19:09. She was the first of 230 runners to complete the 5,000-meter course, and there were more Lynx jerseys right behind her. Teammates Lauren Wells (19:57), Allison Rief (20:36) and Kylie Foss (20:42) were the second, third and fourth runners to parade across the finish line. Katie Wentzy was close behind as the sixth to finish the race, posting a time of 20:48. Megan Pickering (21:32) and Natalie Moose (21:35) also cracked the Augie race top 10, claiming eighth and ninth place, respectively.
“This was a nice run for Haylee. Nearly breaking 19:00 in a 5K is impressive,” head coach Larry Beesley said. “Our gap grew from 90 seconds from one to seven, but it could be just because Haylee had a great race. This pack really looked good and had a super finishing loop.”
Waterfall’s medalist run also established a new school record and complete rewrite of the BV Top 10 list.
“This was a large field of runners and we had very solid races. Our girls are really race savvy and I like this team to run well each week,” Beesley said.
For the second consecutive week, Britton Elkin and Eli Cheever guided the Lynx boys. Elkin’s 31st-place run of 17:03 set a school record and also changed up BV’s Top 10 list. Cheever posted a time of 17:25 to land in 42nd place. BV’s next best finish was recorded by Thomas Redford, who crossed the line in 18:12. Zach Hentschel followed at the 18-minute, 31-second mark for 109th place..
“We had a gap of 2 minutes, 30 seconds between our first and seventh runner, which can happen in a big meet, so we need to close that up,” Beesley said. “As we gain experience that will happen. This group is getting better each race, which really excites me. This is a very young group in age and experience, so for them to improve each week like they did this week, wow, that impresses me.”
Brandon Valley hosts their only home meet of the season - the Lynx Invitational - this Saturday at McHardy Park, with races starting at 9:30 a.m.
AUGUSTANA TWILIGHT
Yankton Trail Park - Sept. 1
Lady Lynx results (5,000 meters, 230 runners): 1.) Haylee Waterfall 19:09; 2.) Lauren Wells 19:57; 3.) Allison Rief 20:36; 4.) Kylie Foss 20:42; 6.) Katie Wentzy 20:48; 8.) Megan Pickering 21:32; 9.) Natalie Moose 21:35.
Lynx boys’ results (5,000 meters, 217 runners): 31.) Britton Elkin 17:03; 42.) Eli Cheever 17:25; 88.) Thomas Redford 18:12; 109.) Zach Hentschel 18:31; 161.) Jace Christoffer 19:25; 175.) Luke Kocer 19:45; 177.) Caleb Klatt 19:48; 195.) Dustin Green 20:29.
Lady Lynx JV (5,000 meters, 230 runners): 20.) Hannah Sprecher 22:20; 25.) Mikaela Birath 22:38; 27.) Caitlyn Hanson 22:40; 89.) Ava Caron 24:32; 151.) Lexy Hamner 26:00; Mackenzie Hochhalter 27:29; 225.) Kelsey Frost 31:39.
Lynx JV boys’ results (5,000 meters, 315 runners): 53.) Blake Thompson 19:42; 54.) Josef Zahn 19:42; 87.) Quinn Gienap 20:14; 119.) Josh Lee 20:48; 145.) Jack Scholten 21:18; 178.) Caleb Zerr 21:54; 209.) Kyle Heidbrink 22:36; 223.) Aaron House 22:48; 228.) Marshall Elkin 22:52; 235.) Kolen Eszlinger 22:55; 281.) Curtis Callahan 24:24; 291.) Grant Gunderson 24:46.
